Yen

I have a Droid (original) smartphone with Verizon and love it. I'm ready to upgrade and would like a new Droid or other Android phone that has a good camera and a screen I can see in bright daylight. The advantage of using the phone's camera on rides is that I don't need to carry a separate camera, AND I can share the pictures in "near real time" rather than waiting to upload them to the computer, then to FB/email, in bulk later that evening.

I'm just now starting to shop and would like to get the new phone before our Colorado trip next month. I'm wondering if anyone here has anything to share about any of the current Droid/Android phones. Our experience with Verizon has been stellar and we are not planning to switch plans. I casually considered switching to an iPhone but would dearly miss the built-in turn-by-turn voice navigation, and I'm happy overall with my Droid -- but it's starting to lag and a bigger screen would be nice.

Yen

Hermes - my Droid has a camera and I am able to immediately share to FB, gmail, text, or otherwise. So, that functionality is on my phone and I don't want to switch to an iPhone. I'm looking for a NEW Droid/Android phone with (1) faster response and (2) a better camera and (3) a screen that doesn't act like a mirror in bright daylight. I've considered an iPhone but I've been very happy with Droid/Android and want to keep the built-in voice turn-by-turn navigation.

ChrisM2097

I've got the Google Nexus, and it takes great photos, and you can snap them in very fast succession.

I just tested it, and with the security turned off (so that I don't have to unlock by face recognition or pattern), I was able to turn on the screen, and snap 5 photos in only about 3 seconds total. It takes about 1.5 seconds to the first photo, then others will snap pretty much as quickly as you can press the button.

It's got Android 4.0 (I.C.S.). It automatically uploads your photos to your Google account (mine is set to only upload while connected to WiFi). The only thing I don't like about it is that you can't use a MicroSD card (same as iPhone)...but since the photos are automatically uploaded to Google, you don't need to store them on the phone.

The camera quality is very nice, too. Here's one I took several months ago:



And one that I snapped during a ride last week:

ChrisM2097

The version for Verizon is $150 w/ contract or $650 full price:

https://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/s...edPhoneId=5801


Direct from Google, it's $350 - but this is the GSM version for AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.

https://play.google.com/store/device...axy_nexus_hspa

johnny99

I have a Galaxy Nexus and think the photos are mediocre compared to my cheap pocket Canon camera. Details are soft or grainy and colors are bland, especially in long distance landscape shots and low-light shots (shade, sunset, indoors). My Canon does a much better job, which is noticeable even in web-sized photos. On the other hand, if you're just taking casual snap shots that people will only glance at once, then maybe photo quality doesn't matter too much.

ChrisM2097

A camera built into a phone will certainly never match the photo quality of an actual camera. For a phone, it takes perfectly acceptable photos.

woodway

It does not match your Android requirement, but I have a Nokia Lumia 900 (Microsoft Windows Phone on AT&T) and it has a dedicated camera button - pull the phone out, push and hold the camera button for a second and the phone comes out of sleep/lock right into the camera application ready to snap a photo (and you can do burst mode captures too). I love this feature and use my phone to take photos all the time because it's so easy. I can take photos without removing my gloves! Sharing to FB is as simple as can be. And the Nokia phones come free with the Nokia Drive app, which is turn-by-turn voice navigation that works great. Not saying that this phone (or the Windows Phone OS) is any better than Android phones, but for the application scenario you describe, this phone does a great job.

Yen

Thanks everyone. This is going to be about as easy as picking out a new bike.